E. Timor needs continuing UN support to bolster stability: Xanana
E. Timor needs continuing UN support to bolster stability: Xanana
Agence France-Presse, Dili
East Timor will continue to need the support of the United Nations to strengthen peace and stability after UN peacekeeping missions come to an end, President Xanana Gusmao said on Thursday.
"We will still continue to count on your support ... to help us consolidate the achievements and progress we have made in securing peace and stability over these last few years," Gusmao said in a ceremony to mark the end of the mandate of the UN Mission of Support in Timor-Leste (UNMISET).
He hailed UNMISET's contribution to peace and security in East Timor, which voted to break away from Indonesia in a violence- marred ballot in 1999.
"Peace is an essential element for nation-building. By securing and keeping peace, you have helped to set up the conditions for the smooth functioning of democracy in our country, enabling for such democratic processes as elections to be held in a free, fair and peaceful manner," Gusmao said.
The ceremony, at the Obrigado barrack compound in downtown Dili, was also attended by special representative of the UN secretary general, Sukehiro Hasegawa, who called the departure of UN peacekeepers "a historic occasion."
"An important chapter of the UN's involvement in Timor-Leste (East Timor) will be closed," Hasegawa said in his speech.
Hasegawa said that UN peacekeeping forces have been deployed in East Timor since 1999 and their strength had already been gradually cut in line with needs, from close to 9,000 in 1999 to 435 currently.
From May 21, a new political mission, the UN Office in East Timor (UNOTIL), is to be established in East Timor and will be composed of 45 civilian advisors as well as 15 military and 60 police advisers, Hasegawa said.
Up to 10 human rights officers will also be part of UNOTIL to provide training on democratic governance and human rights.
The UN office's main task, during its one year mandate, will be the transfer of knowledge and skills to local officials, Hasewawa said.
Gusmao said that East Timor's challenges were to develop its defense forces, assure security, and pursue development and the struggle against poverty.
The ceremony included a parade by members of the UN police and the awarding of medals of honor by Gusmao to leaders of the peacekeeping forces.
Pro-Indonesian militias, allegedly directed by Indonesian army officers, went on a rampage before and after East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia in the UN-sponsored ballot in August 1999, prompting the deployment of a UN-sanctioned international force there the following month.
The militias killed about 1,400 independence supporters, laid waste to much of the infrastructure and forcibly deported 250,000 people to West Timor.
East Timor gained full independence in May 2002 after a period of UN stewardship.